Google has made a notable change to its account storage policy, limiting the usual 15GB of free storage only to accounts that are verified with a phone number.
For years now, signing up for a Google account has automatically granted users access to a pool of 15GB of free storage shared across Gmail, Drive, and Photos. Compared to Apple and some others, it’s a generous amount that can go quite a long ways.
But, now, there’s an asterisk on this.
One user was notified during the setup process of a new Google account that they would only get 5GB of free storage. To get 15GB, the user would need to link a phone number to the account.
Google’s notice reads:
Your account includes 5 GB of storage. Now get even more storage space with your phone number for Google Photos, Drive, and Gmail.
- Unlock 15 GB storage at no cost by using your phone number
- Keep 5 GB storage
Google will use your phone number to make sure storage is added only once per person.
Understand Google Account storage management policy at g.co/help/storagepolicy
The link there is currently broken, but in digging for confirmation of this change, we noticed that Google has updated its language around 15GB of free storage. Previously, a support page said that “Your Google Account comes with 15 GB of cloud storage at no charge,” but that language has been updated to “up to 15 GB of cloud storage at no charge.” The same language is mirrored on another support page about “How your Google storage works.”
Using the Internet Archive’s WayBack Machine, we were able to verify that Google made this change sometime in March 2026. It first appears in the archive on March 18, and remains live today.
As far as we can tell, Google does not explicitly say that phone number linking is required for 15GB of storage outside of the new account setup process. And, importantly, you are required to link a phone number in most instances. In trying to create a new Google account both on desktop and on mobile, we were forced to verify a phone number before proceeding, but there are some cases where this verification is not required, such as when setting up a new Android phone without a SIM card.
If you manage to get through account setup without linking a phone number, Google positions this as a policy to ensure that this 15GB storage pool is only added “once per person,” though someone with multiple phone numbers could theoretically get around that block.
Regardless, it stops users and bots from abusing Google’s system and getting more storage on a technically-infinite basis. There have been some backlash to the change, but it’s worth noting that, like everyone else, Google is facing the increased cost and scarcity of memory and storage hardware, which is likely at least part of the motivation for this change.
We’ll update this article if Google provides any additional context, but it all seems pretty clear.
More on Google:
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- Google brings individual hotel price tracking to Search for all your summer travel needs
- Gmail adds AI Inbox to the bottom bar as Help me write becomes more personal
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